User blog:BobTheDoctor27/Falling in the Black: Caliga Snippet
Chapter 11: Santis fights off a Takea The Toa could feel the oxygen and nitrogen mix rushing into the back of his throat. It had a slightly stale taste but he could tell using the Air Bladder wasn't going to be overly complicated. Satisfied with his breathing supply, he pressed one hand to his Kanohi Danju, holding the strange organic oddity in place, extended his sword in the other, then hopped into the water. It was cold and stagnant after centuries of lying untouched. He felt his elbow make contact with the ledge behind him and his whole world seemed to spin upside down. The pool rushed up to meet him and his vision was pulled apart like a curtain opening as he found himself plunging into the water. The Toa kept his head below the surface for a moment. Partly to wait for Krennato, partly to map out his bearings in the dark liquid surroundings. But, as he feared would be more likely, to plan how to get back. It was a narrow cave and it was cold, which was a dangerous enemy of any scuba diving Toa of Fire, sapping his strength and concentration. The deeper they went, the colder it got. Hence, he couldn't afford to hang around. Santis willed his Elemental Fire power through his sword once again, creating the first light that the sunken cave had seen in centuries, then let his weight drag him down, like an anchor. The water rose up and devoured him. Down and down he sank, blowing hard, equalizing, to stop the pain in his audio receptors. Krennato was lagging above him, perhaps marvelling at the astonishing beauty of the underwater world. There were a few different species of watery plants dotted around the cave, their shapes and colors as alien to him as anything it was possible to find in the Matoran Universe. For a single moment, he felt completely at peace, an unusual trait for him. The sound of his own breathing echoed and each breath released a cascade of silver bubbles. He was approximately fifteen bio down below the surface, about two bio from the ground. A school of brightly colored fish swam past him, a species he was unfamiliar with; fat lips, bulging eyes, and strange, misshapen bodies. Hideous and beautiful at the same time. Harmonious. The Toa hadn't ventured underwater in centuries. He only vaguely recalled how to swim. Still, he wished that he had time to enjoy it. But he didn't. So he kicked forward. The fish darted away, alarmed. The walls were of course much more than just a seething mass of rock; coral, vegetation and marine-life. It was a living thing, in a sense. Huge fans of seaweed waved slowly from side to side. Clumps of corals exploded brilliantly around him. There was a slither of movement as a Venom Eel disappeared behind a rock. Unfortunately, Santis didn't have the time to waste admiring the colors and sights of the underwater kingdom. He had to concentrate. They had to keep swimming. The cave itself was like a gaping mouth, an expression which the Toa soon began to almost believe as he led the unsuspecting Ga-Matoran further inside. This tunnel hadn't always been flooded and over a period of time – millions of years – stalactites and stalagmites had grown. The needle-sharp spears hung from the ceiling and protruded up from the floor. As always, Santis was unable to remember which was which. But even from a distance there was something menacing about the place. It was like looking into the open mouth of a giant, undersea monster. He could almost imagine the pointy formations biting down, the whole thing swallowing him up. He was about to swim forward when there was a movement just outside his field of vision. Something was there. Puzzled, he looked up. He froze instantly. He actually felt the air stop somewhere at the back of his throat. The last of the bubbles chased each other up to the roof of the cave. Santis just hung there, fighting for control. He wanted to scream. But underwater, it wasn't possible to scream. He was looking at a Takea Shark, at least three meters long, circling slowly above him. The sight was so unreal, so utterly shocking, that at first he didn't quite believe his eyes. It had to be an illusion, some sort of trick. The very fact it was so close to him an Krennato seemed impossible. He stared at its grey underbelly, the two sets of fins, the down-turned crescent mouth with its jagged, razor-sharp teeth. And there were the deadly, round eyes, as black and evil as anything in the Matoran Universe. Had they seen him yet? Swallowing his surprise, the Toa refused to let himself get scared. Panicking while underwater was the last thing he wanted to do. So he thought about what he knew about the species, which wasn't a considerably great deal of knowledge. Was it going to attack him first? He didn't know. Could its teeth penetrate his armor? He didn't know. Was there any chance it was a vegetarian? He seriously doubted it. He knew that there were a number of different shark-like species inhabiting this world, courtesy of the Brotherhood of Makuta, of course, and that only a few of them had ever attacked another living creature. The Takea shark was definitely one of them. Not so good. But attacks were rare. Only about a hundred Ga-Matoran were killed a year. More people died in Moto Sled accidents. But these were dangerous waters, and this was a single shark... ...Still circling yet, as if choosing its moment... Perhaps it hadn't seem them yet. No. That wasn't possible. Any kind of Rahi's eyes had to be at least ten times more sensitive than a Toa's. Even in pitch darkness it could see at least then bio away. And anyway, it probably didn't need eyes. It had receptors built into its snout that allowed it to detect even the tiniest electrical current. A blinking heartlight, for example. The Toa forced himself to think harder. Both their lives could depend on it. A shark would be attract the shiny metal objects, bright colors, and to fresh blood. He slowly turned his head. His sword was dazzling with light and his armor was bright red and yellow. But there was no blood. Was there? Most of his wounds from the night before had been healed by the group's two Ga-Matoran medics. There were no open wounds that he knew of. He turned his hands over, examining himself. And then he saw it. Just below the elbow of his left arm was a small gash. He hadn't even noticed it, though he remembered knocking it against the ledge when he dove in. A tiny amount of blood, brown in the murky water rather than red. Tiny, but enough. The Takea could smell one drop of blood in fifty gallons of water. Who had taught him that? He had forgotten, but he knew it to be true. The shark had smelled him... ...and was still smelling him, closing in... The circles were getting smaller. The Takea's fins were down, its back arched. And it was moving in a strange jerky pattern. The three textbook signs of an immediate attack. Santis knew there were only going to be a few seconds between life and death. Slowly, trying not to make any disturbance in the water, he reached down. His knife was still there, strapped to the armor of his leg. He carefully unfastened it, using his right shoulder to keep the Air Bladder pressed against his Kanohi. The weapon would be tiny against the bulk of the Rahi and the blade would seem pathetic against those vicious teeth. But at least it was something to defend himself with. The Toa tried to edge backwards. Slowly, keeping the creature in sight, he resumed his swim, Krennato just ahead of him. For a moment he thought the shark had lost interest in him, but then he saw that he had been tricked. The monster turned and, as if fired from a Cordak Blaster, rushed through the water, heading straight at him. Toa dived down, his Air Bladder dislodging from his Mask, bubbles exploding from his mouth. There was a boulder to one side of the cave and he tried to wedge himself and his Matoran accomplice between it, shielding from their attacker. The Takea hesitated and curved away. At that moment, the Toa of Fire lunged forwards with his blade. He felt his arm shudder as the knife cut into the thick hide of just under the two front fins. As the Rahi flickered past, he saw it was leaving a trail of what looked like brown smoke. Blood. But he knew it had barely been wounded. He had managed to pinprick it, nothing more. And he had probably angered it too, making it all the more determined. Worse, he was bleeding more himself. In his attempt to get out of the way, he had backed into the coral, which had cut what little flesh peaked out from behind his armor. He felt no pain, though he was sure that would come later. But now he really had done it. He had advertised himself: dinner, fresh and bleeding. It was a miracle that the shark hadn't been joined by a dozen of its friends. The Toa kicked, propelling himself forwards, with all his mighty strength. At the same time he was thrashing with his arms and cursed noisily inside his head when he accidentally dropped the knife. He decided it would have done him no good anyway. He needed his Sword as a light source. He couldn't use it in this skirmish, and he couldn't use his Elemental Powers, Plasma capabilities, or Heat Vision in this watery graveyard. Yet the Takea still came hurtling towards him. The devilish eyes seemed to have grown larger. The mouth was stretched open in a snarl that contained all the hatred in the world. Its jaw gaped, the dreadful teeth slicing through the water. The Toa jerked backwards, twisting his spine. The Rahi missed him by centimeters. He felt the surge of water pushing him away. But then the battle was over. Santis watched as the Takea rammed right into one of the stalagmites. Teeth that skewered the creature. Blood exploded into the water. He saw the dreadful eyes as the creature's head whipped from side to side. He could almost imagine it howling in pure agony. It was stuck, completely trapped, as it in the jaws of a monster even more dreadful than itself. The Toa of Fire hung in the water, shocked and uncomprehending. Slowly the blood cleared and Krennato joined him as the Takea gave its last spasm and died. Chapter 11: Caliga's first storyline appearance When the Toa of Fire and his Ga-Matoran companion had swam onwards, a shadowy female figure drifted out of the blackness, stepping into what little light remained of the distant pair. She ascended to her position atop a large rock, where her armored heel cut through the overlying moss. There she stood still, around her stretched the murky rocks of the flooded cave, darker than mortal sin. The fact that she was tall and straight in build and that she was feminine in her movements were all that could be learnt from her. It was as if her form was wrapped up in a close-fitting shawl of darkness. Her reason for standing so dead still, watching the disappearing questers was just as obscure. Her extraordinary fixity, her conspicuous loneliness, her heedlessness of the darkness, betokened among other things an utter absence of fear. This was her home. Her domain. The only world that she had known for thousands upon thousands of years, and these burglars were not welcome here. The watery warrior narrowed her eyes and focused on the intruders. The light coming from the red-one's blade had awoken her from a trance of unbroken tenseness. It did not belong her, in this desolate, grey world. What the female uttered was a lengthened sighing, apparently at something on her mind. Millenia in this craggy, dingy hellhole had eaten away at her mind. Fractured images cascaded into he foreground of her vision. She had pledged herself to this place, given herself to that cause of defending the Kanohi Ignika from thieves foolish enough to try their luck. She had lived a life before that, but it did not matter. It did not aid her in her century-old task. Protecting this cave was her responsibility, for the passageway splintered off further down the line, leading straight to the Chamber of Life where the Mask was held. The blue and white-armored female glanced down at the broken corpse that had caused the Toa to hesitate. It had belonged to a lone bounty hunter, who had been hired to steal the Mask for his employer. He had tried his luck only to be met by this watery guardian. And his luck hadn't lasted long enough. But the female sentry had killed him before this point while the Toa had managed to go further on. Why was that? Was she getting sloppy? Had a lifetime spent in this forgotten, watery cavern rendered her lazy? In the space of a second she decided that could not have been the reason. She had sensed the presence of the Toa long before she had seen him and his accomplice. Her waters had been disturbed. Although the reason why she had stayed lurking in the shadows allowed the intruders to pass were a mystery to her. She knew it was unacceptable. She would follow the Toa and the Ga-Matoran. It was obvious that they were using primitive Air Bladders to hold their chances. Not the best effort she had seen, but still one she would enjoy exploiting. Tactically, the best move would be to simply wait for their lungs to fill with the water she now breathed. But the tunnel didn't go on forever, which afforded them a chance of reaching air again at the end, however slim, and succeeding. She could not allow that. Life in this cave was dark and cruel if lived alone. Perhaps a hunt would rectify her gloomy mood. Calling upon her Mask of Conjuring, the female paddled forwards. She spoke aloud as she moved and the nebulous shaped Kanohi began to glimmer. Even as she began to describe the powers she was programming into her Mask, she knew she wasn't going to need the full fifteen minutes. She wasn't getting slow... she was just toying with her prey. Playing with her food.